Our baby is growing up

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Our little boy is growing up....

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Our princess is growing up....

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Friday, September 28, 2007

I'm Graduating!


So today I turned in my application to graduate in April of 2008! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. My time at BYU will be one that I will always cherish. Some of the best experiences in my life have happened because of this university....most importantly finding my eternal companion =) I will miss my college years, but I am very excited to move on to bigger and better things!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Jake's Surgery

Ever since Jakes mission he has been battling with stomach issues. Every 6 months something would trigger him and we'd be in the ER all night. Well, last week I had to take him to the ER again but this time it ended much differently. The physician actually found out what was causing his problems and why it would randomly flare up. He had meckles diverticulitis and they had to operate immediately to decrease the risk of a rupture because his WBC count was up twice the amount of normal. That was a rough night for both of us....When he woke up he was rather loopy....complimenting the staff on the great job they did and asking if he "was still a man". That was fairly interesting...especially with his aunt and uncle within hearing range. Jake and I spent 6 days and nights in the hospital recovering from the surgery. He is doing much better now and we hope this operation will cure him for good. We appreciate the support of our family and friends during Jake's time of need. Especially his parents who drove all night to get to Jake as soon as they heard he was having surgery. He sure is loved =)

The Best Books Ever!


Those of you who know me know that I've never been much of a reader. I'll read my assigned readings but never for enjoyment purposes. Well, I found a new series that I fell in love with. It is the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. All of my friends and random people kept telling me how wonderful these books were and I didn't believe them, until I sat down and read the first one. I became consumed in the story and 2 days went by and I finished the first one...I ran to the bookstore and bought New Moon, 2 days later I finished that one. I ran to the store one final time and bought Eclipse and 2 days later I was done with the series. I never thought I would be one of the people who could read 600 pages in a couple of days, but turns out I am. Those of you who haven't read these books yet should....I'm still trying to convince Jake to read them =)

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Cancun Mexico Trip!

Plane Ride To Cancun

View from the balcony of our hotel room


Poolside Salsa dance lessons

One of the many towel sculptures the maid left for us after cleaning our room

Another one of my favorites that the maid created for us


Following our zip-line tour across a mile of the jungle

Another picture at Selvatica before returning to Cancun from the jungle

The view from where I was laying out by the pool
Out to dinner at Marco Pollo, it was Mexican night and I had excellent tamales....but they still didn't compare with moms =)
Waiting for the Mexican Entertainment Show to begin

This was a pretty picture of a typical Caribbean night sky

Boat ride coming back from Isla Mujeres

Out to dinner

It's so difficult to get him to smile normal for a picture...but it turned out cute anyways

Iguana's were EVERYWHERE!

On a stroll along the coast

Jake swimming in the ocean...I liked to watch him to make sure he was safe

A quick picture before heading in to get ready for dinner

Out to dinner for Itallian/Lobster night, this is a picture of our amazing desserts which took over the table

Another dinner picture
Waiting for our plane ride back home



Day 1 Saturday Aug 25th
Jake and I left for Cancun with 2 of our good friends Staci and Chris. We almost didn't go because Hurricane Dean went near the area a few days before...however we checked with the hotel and verified there was no damage. Going was the best decision ever! We had a blast, I couldn't imagine a more beautiful place to spend 8 days and 7 nights. After we arrived we went to this cute little deli by the pool and got some quick grub before dinner time. Our rooms were lovely and even more lovely because I convinced Jake that we should upgrade to an ocean view...which he gladly did. We had a gorgeous view of the Caribbean ocean and pool from our 4th floor room.
Day 2 Sun Aug 26th
The next day we just kinda hung around the pool area. They had an entertainment staff that kept us busy with activities that day. We started off with water aerobics in the morning and then played some games such as a water balloon fruit salad game where I came in second, a movie charade game which I won, and a salsa dance class which Staci and I participated in. It was a fun day....however we soon learned that if we went to the adult pool we wouldn't be bothered =)
Day 3 Mon Aug 27th
The next day which was Monday we went on an excursion to Isla Mujeres. We went snorkling, shopping, swam with sharks, ate some delicious authentic Meixcan food, and watched dolphins do some pretty cool tricks with people who payed a ton of money to be a part of it.
Day 4 Tues Aug 28th
The following day we took it easy by the pool. Jake frequently went and played in the ocean, he would always say "the ocean is calling me". He was really funny because he would always try to catch the waves, but it looked more like the waves caught him when he would land face first on the shore.
Day 5 Weds Aug 29th
The following day was perhaps the funnest of the whole trip. We went on a trip to Selvatica, a jungle excursion about 40mins from Cancun. It was raining that day which was perfect because otherwise it would have been unbearably hot and humid. We went on a 1 mile zip-line course across the jungle!! Part of the time Jake and I went upside down which was quite the rush! It consisted of 12 cables spreading over a mile of terrain. The most beautiful and exhilerating trip of our lives. Following that we went on a bike ride to a nearby natural rain water swimming hole where we cliff jumped and zip-lined into the water. I was pretty nervous at first but it was so worth it! The water was cool and refreshing. Jake actually went backwards on the zipline and dove off it into the water. He is pretty talented =) We then road our bikes back to the main lodge and ate some good food and headed back to the hotel.
Day 6 Thurs Aug 30th
Thursday we went on a separate excursion from the Thackers and went to Xel-Ha while they went to Chichen Itza. Xel-Ha means "where waters are born" and was a beautiful natural aquatic park with snorkling, a natural lazy river, shops, dolphins, and 5 delicious restaraunts. Chichen Itza is a place to visit the Mayan Ruins. Staci loved it but Chris admited he went for her. Jake and I had a lot of fun even though the water wasn't that clear which made the snorkling less enjoyable. There was also bike riding and lots of cute shops. Jake and I enjoyed taking a nap on some really nice hammocks in the shade while we watched the dolphins do there tricks. I also like laying out and relaxing on the lazy river and watching people cliff jump into the water. That was a long day, we left at 7:30am and came back around 7pm. We got back and cleaned up for Steak night at the outdoor restaurant by the pool. We were kinda dissapointed....especially when the menu described our steaks as thick and juicy and we got a dry skinny pethetic slab of meat.
Day 7 Fri Aug 31st
We wanted to spend our last day relaxing by the pools and ocean again...so thats what we did. These days were always relaxing and most of our time was spent drinking the refreshing non alcoholic frozen drinks such as pina coladas, miami vices, and banana sexy...these were our most popular selections. Following our last day soaking up the Cancun sun we had lobster night at Marco Polo, a really nice restaurant at the hotel. The lobster was really good and the desserts....wow....there are not words to describe. We each ordered 2 desserts and ate every last bite. That night we went to a Magic Show which was actually very good. I even got chosen out of the audience by the magician to come up and assist him in a trick. I of course was very hesitant b/c I prefer not to be sliced in half, but luckily all I had to do was hold an empty bucket which when he opened had a huge duck in it that flapped me in the face. After the Magic Show we went into town and went to a popular night club called Senor Frogs. We danced for a couple of hours but it was pretty hot and humid in there so we left early. It was cool b/c they had a slide that went to the outside of the building into the lagoon that the club bordered. We got to see 2 guys who lost a competition go down the slide, that was pretty funny.
Day 8 Sat Sept 1st
The next day was Saturday, we went to town and did some shopping and then headed to the airport to return back to the states. It feels really good to be back in America, you don't realize how blessed we really are untill you visit another country. I enjoyed being in the same country as Elder David Ainsworth (aka poopy) for a while too =) Unfortunately we have to return back to real life...Work and school. We hope to go back to Cancun again because we loved every second of it.